


Class Discussion

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, High School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:20:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24148057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: After a sarcastic comment from Alex, Zack begins to question his abilities as a student.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Class Discussion

**Author's Note:**

> This is a request, and set in their junior year of high school.

“I really don’t want to go to English today,” Alex said, taking a bit of his sandwich at the lunch table.  
“You love English, why don’t you want to go?” Jack asked, sounding surprised.  
“We have to do a discussion circle today. I read all of the material and know what I’m supposed to know, but I still don’t want to do it. Our teacher is a bitch, and I feel like she’s going to make it harder than it has to be,” Alex explained, rolling his eyes some.  
“Shit, that’s today?” Zack asked, his eyes widening some.  
“Yeah, it’s been written on the board in the classroom for, like, weeks now. Have you not been doing the work or something?” Alex continued.  
“Of course I’ve been doing my work, I just hate discussions like that,” Zack replied.  
“You guys are going to be just fine, don’t get so stressed. Both of you love English for whatever reason, so I’m sure that it’ll all be fine,” Rian assured.  
“I’ll be fine, I don’t totally dislike discussions, I just don’t want to do it,” Alex replied.  
“Can we use the last little bit of lunch that we have to talk about something that actually matters? We have to figure out our set for that gig we have this weekend,” Jack stated.  
“Jack’s right, fuck English, let’s talk about that,” Alex decided.   
As they talked about their setlist, Zack felt his palms start to sweat, and his stomach started to feel a bit uneasy. Class discussions were one of his least favorite things to ever exist, and he’d always been super shy, and speaking in front of a big group, like his English class, scared him.   
Oddly enough, performing with the band in front of big crowds didn’t really freak him out, but he figured that was because he was with his friends, and not being alone gave him a sense of security. He also had a history of freezing up when randomly being called on, and he was terrified of that happening to him in his next class.   
Eventually, the bell ending lunch rang, so the four of them got up from their lunch table and threw out their trash.  
“I’ll see you guys at my house at five for band practice. Good luck with your English thing, Alex and Zack,” Rian said, zipping up his backpack.  
“Sounds good, see you guys later,” Alex replied, before walking with Zack towards their English classroom.  
“Hey, you didn’t talk a lot at lunch today, are you okay?” Alex asked his friend.  
“Oh, I’m fine, I guess I’m just a little nervous for the class discussion,” Zack replied, sounding a bit embarrassed.  
“Dude, I bet you’ll be fine, as long as you’ve actually been reading the book and stuff,” Alex assured, as they walked into the classroom and took their seats.  
“I hope so, but even you said you don’t want to do this, and you’re super outgoing, and love this class,” Zack pointed out.  
“Yeah, but that’s only because I hate our teacher, and I don’t like a lot of the people in our class. I don’t mind actually talking about what we’ve been reading,” Alex explained.   
Before Zack could reply, their teacher shut the door to the classroom, officially starting class.  
“It’s time for our first class discussion over Hamlet! Form your desks into a circle around the room,” their teacher instructed.   
The whole class started to move their desks, and Zack made sure that his desk was still next to Alex’s, since he thought that might help calm him down some. Once all of the desks were situated, their teacher sat down in the middle of the circle.  
“Okay, we’re going to start by talking about the first scene in the play. Who can tell us the most important part of it?” their teacher asked, looking around the circle for volunteers.   
As the discussion went on, Zack got increasingly more nervous. He knew he’d eventually have to participate, but he really didn’t want to. At the very least, he hoped that he’d get to pick when he spoke, and not get randomly called on.   
Alex had participated quite a bit, showing how much he loved English, and explaining the meaning behind certain words and phrases. Zack knew all of the answers to the questions being asked, but he just couldn’t get himself to raise his hand and answer the questions.  
“Zack, what are the key points of the monologue in the third act?” their teacher eventually asked.   
As she turned to face Zack, his eyes went wide, and his mind went blank in fear. Alex gave his friend a look of confusion, figuring that Zack would know the answer, since it was a fairly simple question.  
“Um, that would be,” Zack trailed off, quickly flipping through the notes he’d taken, hoping that something would remind him of the answer.  
“Do you have the answer, Zack?” their teacher asked, clearly growing impatient.   
“Yeah, it’s, um,” Zack said, still flipping through his notes.  
“Let’s try someone else, what about you, Anthony?” their teacher finally said, turning to face the person she’d just called on. Zack felt his face get red as Alex tapped him on his shoulder.  
“Dude, that was the easiest question she’s given us all class, do you actually know what you’re doing? Like I don’t think you’re stupid, but seriously,” Alex asked in a joking voice.  
“I froze up,” Zack said, still feeling embarrassed, but angry now, as well.   
Zack knew that Alex knew how shy he was, and he couldn’t believe that Alex was being the way he was about what had happened, even if he was joking. Alex just shrugged his shoulders, going back to listening to the discussion, but Zack continued to think about what had just happened.   
He was mad at Alex, but he started to really think about what Alex had said. What if he really wasn’t smart, and the shyness was just a way to cover that up? Zack had always been a bit insecure with school, so what if he felt that way, because he couldn’t do the work, or get what was going on? Luckily, Zack never got called on again during the discussion, which was good, since he was far too busy spiraling and being mad at Alex.   
Once the bell rang, everyone packed up and left the classroom. Zack bolted out of the room, hoping to lose Alex, since they normally walked to their next classes together. Unfortunately, he wasn’t successful, because Alex managed to catch up to him right after he walked out of the room.  
“Hey, wait up! Thank god that’s done, right?” Alex asked with a laugh.   
“Whatever,” Zack replied, looking away from Alex.  
“Are you upset about freezing up? I bet everyone will have forgotten about it by tomorrow,” Alex assured, speed walking in order to catch up with Zack.  
“I’m not mad about that,” Zack replied.  
“Then why are you being so moody?” Alex continued, starting to sound frustrated.  
“Don’t worry about it,” Zack replied, rolling his eyes.  
“Zack, wait-“ Alex started, as Zack walked into his next classroom.   
For the rest of the school day, Zack continued to question if he was really smart or not. He’d had experiences like this before, where he questioned himself, but this one hurt the most, mostly because it was Alex, someone he thought of as a close friend, who’d set him off.   
Once school was finally over, Zack sent a text to the band’s group chat, letting his friends know that he wouldn’t be at practice, since he wasn’t feeling well, the real reason being that he was still mad and upset about what had happened earlier. After a silent drive home, Zack went straight up to his room, not even saying hello to his mom first, and laid in his bed, putting his face into a pillow.   
Zack really didn’t want to cry over something as trivial as this, but he eventually couldn’t help it when a few small tears started to sting at his eyes. Alex’s words continued to repeat in his mind, and he continued to think that he wasn’t really smart, and that school just wasn’t for him. He’d always been shy, but it hadn’t ever been such a big problem for him, until now.   
Zack continued to overthink everything as the time passed, and he eventually heard a knock at his door.  
“Come in,” Zack weakly yelled, wiping away a few stray tears. He assumed that it was his mom, and he really didn’t want to have to explain what was making him so upset to her. Seconds later, his bedroom door opened, and Alex walked through it, looking guilty. Zack immediately felt a rush of anxiety and anger overtake him; he was nervous to have the talk he knew he wouldn’t be able to get out of now, but part of him was still mad at Alex for his comment from earlier.  
“What’re you doing here?” Zack asked, his voice cold.  
“Well, you seemed pissed after class, then you texted the band chat saying that you’re skipping practice because you feel sick. I guess all of it got me worried, man,” Alex explained, taking a seat at Zack’s desk chair.  
“Well, I’m fine, so you can go,” Zack said, looking away from Alex.  
“You’re clearly not, dude. Come on, you literally never miss band practice, so there has to be something big going on here,” Alex pointed out.  
“It’s not a big deal. I’ll just go to practice later, if that will fix this and make you happy,” Zack replied.  
“No, that won’t fix anything, because there’s clearly something really wrong going on, and I want to help fix it if I can. Will you please talk to me about it?” Alex tried, sounding like he genuinely cared.  
“It’s really stupid, you don’t have to worry yourself with it,” Zack mumbled.  
“Zack, you never act like this, so whatever’s bothering you must be a pretty big deal. I feel like this is my fault, so I’m sorry if it is, but I want you to talk to me, so I can apologize for the correct thing,” Alex continued. Zack could tell that Alex felt bad, and really did care, so he sat up in his bed and took a deep breath, finally deciding to talk about everything.   
“I’ll tell you, but like I said, it’s really stupid. The thing I’m so upset over, is the comment you made to me in English when I froze up from getting called on,” Zack confessed, turning a bit red.  
“Really? Dude, I was totally joking when I said that. You’re a great student, and certainly aren’t stupid. I promise that I didn’t mean it,” Alex replied.  
“I know you didn’t, but I guess it just hit a little too close to home for me,” Zack continued.  
“What do you mean? Has something like this happened to you before?” Alex asked back.  
“Yeah, it has actually. Back in middle school, I didn’t exactly have the greatest friend group. As you could probably guess, I was the shyest, which meant that I was an easy target. I was the person who got picked on the most for stupid little things, but I also got picked on academically. I wouldn’t ever raise my hand, so they said the reason I never answered questions was because I was stupid,” Zack explained, making Alex’s jaw drop.  
“Are you serious? I never knew that, man,” Alex said, unsure of what else to say.  
“Yeah, that’s because I wanted to keep it that way. I’ve never told Jack or Rian either. It’s not that I don’t trust you guys, but I guess that I wanted to keep that part of my life in the past. I hate that I had to put of with that shit, and it’s hard for me to think about, much less to talk about it,” Zack continued.  
“Zack, I’m so sorry, I seriously had no idea that my comment would hurt you so much. Were you pissed at me for the rest of the school day?” Alex asked, sitting next to Zack on his bed.  
“Well, I was, but I was more concerned with being hard on myself. I started to spiral, and think that I was stupid, and I just got stuck in this really shitty mindset that I had for all of middle school. That’s why I texted that I was going to miss practice, it was all just too much,” Zack continued.  
“Shit, I’m really sorry, Zack. For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re stupid, I think you’re better at school than Jack and myself combined, and I know you know that to be true. I’d say you’ll do amazing things in college, but we both know that the band is our future. Zack, I really am sorry, and fuck those people from middle school, they were the stupid ones. Are we okay now?” Alex asked back.  
“Yeah, we’re okay. Thank you for saying all of that, it means a lot, Alex,” Zack replied, making both of them smile.  
“So, does this mean that you’re coming to practice?” Alex continued.  
“It sure does! Do you want to hang out here until we have to go to Rian’s?” Zack suggested.  
“We could, or we could go get ice cream from that place down the street, and it can be my treat, and an apology for earlier,” Alex offered.  
“That sounds great, let’s go there! By the way, you don’t have to treat, everything is okay now,” Zack replied.  
“Of course I have to, now let’s go!” Alex exclaimed. The two of them got up, and quickly made their way out to Alex’s car, feeling more than happy that everything was okay again.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this was a request for someone on my Tumblr! A lot of it is actually based off of my personal life, and I'm thinking about doing a fic like that, that is totally based off of my own experiences, since I like writing fics like that. Also, I'm starting to get close to my 200th fic, which is insane, and I thought of something special for it, and I'm very excited for when the time comes to post it! I also have a few other ideas in the works, and I'm excited to share those, as well! I'm almost finished working on the last request that I currently have, so please send in more if you have them, I love writing your all's ideas! Thank you for reading, and I'll have another new fic up on Thursday! Lots of love, Liv.


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